Refund procedure modifications: rectified refund applications must be filed under the original ARN when portal disallows fresh filings.
Where a deficiency memo in FORM GST RFD-03 is issued, taxpayers must submit the rectified refund application under the original ARN because the portal does not permit filing a fresh application; re-credit to the electronic credit ledger via FORM GST RFD-01B is not required in such cases and the rectified application will be accepted by the jurisdictional authorities. Separately, amendments permit exporters receiving capital goods under the EPCG scheme to claim refund of IGST on exports, while exporters importing under specified customs notifications are restricted from claiming such refunds prospectively; earlier circulars are superseded.

Cancellation of GST registration: applications must be accepted unless incomplete or transfer unregistered, with specified final return obligations.
Applications for cancellation under FORM GST REG-16 must include contact, reason and effective date, stock and tax particulars, transfer particulars where applicable, and last return details. Proper officers should accept and issue FORM GST REG-19 within thirty days except when applications are incomplete or transferee entities lack registration; in such cases officers must notify discrepancies, allow seven working days to respond, and may approve or reject after hearing. The effective cancellation date is the date sought and cannot precede the application date.

IGST refund rectification extended; once-only SB005 correction permitted and revised IGST plus compensation cess to be sanctioned.
Shipping bills with SB005 invoice mismatches may be rectified using the alternate officer-interface mechanism for filings up to 15.11.2018 under Board Circular No. 40/2018-Customs. The Board's instructions prescribe processing of differential IGST refunds, including disbursal of compensation cess where applicable, and the rectification facility may be used only once per shipping bill to sanction the revised IGST amount.

Electronic sealing required for bonded warehouse deposits and transfers; RFID seals must be procured from the destination warehouse.
Importers authorised to deposit or transfer goods into Customs bonded warehouses must obtain RFID seals from the destination warehouse; the same requirement applies to warehouse to warehouse transfers. The notice places this electronic sealing protocol into effect from the stated implementation date and encloses the clarifying Board circular for strict compliance, inviting stakeholders to report implementation difficulties to the Commissioner's office.

IGST refund denials prompted by higher drawback claims require compliance with prescribed circular addressing identical rate situations.
Cases of IGST refund denials due to claiming a higher drawback rate, or where the higher and lower drawback rates were identical, are brought to attention with a directive for strict compliance with Board Circular No. 37/2018-Customs dated 09.10.2018; the circular is enclosed and stakeholders are asked to report implementation difficulties to the Commissioner's office.

Return of expired drugs: options to treat as fresh supply or by credit note with ITC entitlement and reversal rules.
Explains two procedures for returning time expired drugs under the NGST Act: (1) treat the return as a fresh supply with an invoice (registered persons) or a bill of supply (composition taxpayers) or a commercial document (unregistered persons), permitting recipient ITC subject to Section 16 and requiring ITC reversal where returned goods are destroyed; and (2) process the return via a credit note, with tax adjustment and portal upload permitted only if issued within the statutory time limit, while late credit notes cannot adjust tax and need not be uploaded.

Input Tax Credit recovery: excess credit from an ISD must be returned or recovered with interest and penalties.
Clarifies that advance tax for a casual taxable person must be calculated on the estimated net tax liability after eligible input tax credit; long-running exhibitors exceeding the casual period must register as normal taxable persons using allotment letters as place-of-business proof and need not pay advance tax for normal registration; and excess credit distributed by an ISD must be recovered from recipients with interest and penalty, with recipients allowed to voluntarily deposit excess credit or face recovery proceedings, while the ISD is also liable to general penalty provisions.

Refund eligibility under EPCG clarified; rectified refund applications must be filed under the original ARN for processing.
Where a deficiency memo in FORM GST RFD-03 is issued, taxpayers must submit rectified refund applications under the original ARN because the portal cannot accept a fresh application; consequently re-credit to the electronic credit ledger using FORM GST RFD-01B should not be carried out at present and rectified applications will be accepted by authorities under the earlier ARN. Separately, exporters who imported inputs or capital goods under specified customs notifications are eligible to claim IGST refund on exports up to the issuance date of the notification, while exporters receiving capital goods under the EPCG Scheme continue to be eligible for IGST export refunds despite the amended sub-rule.

Cancellation of GST registration: complete REG-16 applications should be accepted and FORM GST REG-19 issued with the sought effective date.
Applications for cancellation in FORM GST REG-16 must include contact details, reason, sought effective date, stock and tax particulars, transfer particulars where applicable, and last return details; proper officers should accept complete applications and issue FORM GST REG-19 within 30 days with the effective date as sought, except where the application is incomplete or the transferee is not registered, in which case the officer must notify the applicant, allow seven working days to respond, and may reject after giving an opportunity to be heard. Cancellation does not affect tax liabilities and necessitates filing FORM GSTR-10 and payment of tax due.

Export authorisation for restricted items: streamlined online/offline filing, ministry NOC, EFC review and RA licence within 30-45 days.
DGFT requires applicants for export of items classified as Restricted under ITC(HS) Schedule 2 to file ANF 1 and ANF 2N with supporting purchase/contract orders and proof of fee payment via its online portal or at the Facilitation Counter; exported applications are pre screened and forwarded to the concerned Technical Ministry within three working days, applicants must cure deficiencies within three days, Technical Ministries are expected to provide NOC/comments within 30 days, applications with NOC/comments go to the EXIM Facilitation Committee, and upon EFC approval DGFT(HQ) issues an authorisation and the Regional Authority must issue the export licence within three working days (overall 30-45 days).

IGST refund certification: Cost accountants can issue certificates to enable sanction of pending refund claims caused by transmission mismatches.
An interim mechanism allows sanction of pending IGST refund claims where GSTN-to-Customs transmission failed due to GSTR-1/GSTR-3B mismatches, permitting refunds on exporter undertakings and accountant certification with post-refund audit. The department now authorizes Cost Accountants to issue the required certificates under that mechanism to facilitate immediate processing of affected refund claims.

Anti-dumping duty sunset review: importers must be notified of pending litigation and clearances accounted; trade notice to be issued.
Following a sunset review that found no justification to continue anti-dumping duty on saccharin, the High Court issued a civil notice directing that clearances be accounted for and importers be informed that litigation is pending; customs authorities are instructed to issue a Trade Notice quoting the Court's observations and publish it widely so trade and importers are aware of the pending litigation and the need to account for clearances.

GSTR-2A reliance for refund processing permits portal invoice evidence while allowing hard-copy invoices when records are missing.
Claimants must submit a print out of FORM GSTR-2A and a manually completed Annexure A declaring ITC eligibility; proper officers may request hard copy invoices only when GSTR-2A lacks details. The portal will compute refundable unutilized ITC as the least of prescribed amounts and debits the electronic credit ledger in the order of integrated tax, then central and state tax equally, with applications permitted only after such debiting and ARN generation. Rejected ineligible ITC is re credited with simultaneous demand; other re credits require an undertaking or final adverse appeal decision.

IGST refund rectification extended: exporters may file a revised refund request to recover differential IGST via officer interface.
An ICES-based officer-interface rectification facility is extended to process and sanction differential IGST refunds, including instances involving Compensation Cess, for shipping bills filed up to 15.11.2018 where original refund scrolls were generated for a lesser amount. Exporters must submit a signed Revised Refund Request (RRR) to the designated AC/DC (with an optional scanned email copy); the designated officer will verify and sanction the differential via ICES, generating a fresh scroll for the differential alone. The facility applies only to already scrolled shipping bills and is available only once per eligible bill; exporters and officers must exercise due diligence.

IGST export refunds extension of alternate mechanism and revised processing; stakeholders must follow the central circular for claims.
Extension of the IGST export refund alternate mechanism under SBOO5 and revised processing steps are announced to streamline sanction of refund claims and include disbursal of compensation cess, with stakeholders directed to follow the enclosed central circular for detailed procedures and compliance to ensure effective and speedy resolution.

GST e filing facilitation enables taxpayers to use dedicated helpdesks for registrations, returns, payments and refund uploads.
Creates statewide e Helpdesks to assist taxpayers and authorised persons with electronic GST compliance for registrations (new, amendment, cancellation), multiple return filings, payments and refund claims, subject to identity and authorization checks, limits on applications per person, mandatory GST portal credentials, portable storage of prescribed data formats, digital signature dongle where required, and specified document/file format and size requirements for different applicant types and proof of principal place of business.

Provisional release of goods requires sample-module entries in ICES before LEO to prevent premature drawback transmission.
Provisional release of export goods where samples are taken for market enquiry or testing may be allowed upon bond or bank guarantee. The Inspector must enter remarks in the sample module of ICES and the Superintendent must ensure this entry before granting LEO. After test reports or value determinations are received, the Inspector must update the test report column; only then will the Shipping Bill transmit to the drawback queue, preventing premature drawback disbursal.

GST applicability clarification circulated to field officers, with instructions to notify subordinate officers and trade organisations for compliance.
Clarification regarding the applicability of GST on various goods and services was circulated to field officers by forwarding the central GST circular. The communication directs zonal and joint commissioners to inform subordinate officers and trade organisations for compliance.

Fertilizer classification under GST clarified for inputs used in manufacturing other fertilizers, with compliance instructions issued.
Fertilizers used in the manufacture of other fertilizers are to be classified under the 5% GST rate in accordance with the central circular on the subject. The communication forwards that circular to departmental officers and directs that subordinate officers and trade organisations be informed for compliance. It is an administrative clarification on the tax classification of such inputs.

GST applicability on petroleum gases used in petrochemical manufacturing clarified for compliance and trade awareness.
Clarification is issued on the applicability of GST to petroleum gases retained for use in the manufacture of petrochemicals and chemical products. The communication forwards the central circular on the subject and directs field officers to note the clarification, inform subordinate officers, and ensure that trade organisations are apprised for compliance.